Fuel-burner



1 A. DOBLE.

FUEL BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. 1918.

1 ,332, 6 1 6. Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

b $2321?- X b A TTORNE YS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. DOIBLE, OFSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO DOBLE LABORATORIES, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

' F EL-BURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Application filed February 14, 1918. Serial No. 217,077.

To all 207mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. DOBLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Fuel-Burner, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to liquid fuel burners and particularly to burners of the rotary An object of the invention is to provide .a fuel burner .in which the fuel is readily ignited, particularly when an electric spark is employed as the ignition means.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a fuel burner in which the fouling of.

the. spark producing means by carbon.or

' other accumulation is prevented.

A- further object of the invention is to provide a fuel burner wherein the ignition means is arranged. in the fuel mixture from direct contact with the high velocity fuel mixture passing through the burner. i f

A further object of the invention is to provide means for causing a substantially perfect fuel mixture to contact with the ignition means.

The invention possesses advantageous fea-.

tures, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following description, whereI shall outline in full, that form of the invention which I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming part'of the present specification. In said drawings I have shown one specific form of vmy invention,

but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to suchform, since the invention, as expressed in the claims, may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the burner taken on the line 11, Fig. 2.

Fig. 2- is a vertical section of the burner taken on the line 22, Fig. 1.-

Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection of the ignition chamber, taken on the line 33, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a Vertical cross section of the ignition chamber taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 3.

, Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the disk entrance side of the ignition chamber.

. In fuel burners, in which the air-"for com+ bustion is blown into or through the burner,

through the burner is high and difliculty has been experienced in igniting the mixture by an electric spark. In accordance with my lnvention I provide a zone which is protected from the draft of air through the burner and arrange the ignition means in this zone with the effect that ignition is effective and instantaneous. Ordinarily two electrode spark plugs have heretofore been employed for producing the ignition spark, but I have found that spark plugs of this description readily become fouled with carbon, so. that the required spark is not produced. This difliculty is eliminated in the burner of my invention by causing a rotating element to serve as one terminal of the spark gap.

The burner comprises a casing 2 having an air inlet opening 3 and a flame discharge outlet 4. "The air inlet is preferably formed the velocity of the fuel mixture passing as a neck 5 depending from the casing, the

shaft and disposed within the casing, is a rotatable disk or cup 8, the side wall 9 of which is inclined upwardly, so that the fuel is discharged from the periphery of the disk in a fine spray. The fuel is fed through the nozzle 12 intov a depression at the center of the cup, whence it is impelled outwardly and over the edge of the cup. Secured to the shaft 7 below the cup is a blower 13 which operates to draw air through the inlet passage and force it up past the periphery of the cup, where it mixes with the discharging spray. I

rranged on one side of the casing 2 is an ignition casing 25 forming an ignitionfrom the blower is prevented from being blown directly into the ignition chamber.

The upper wall 15 of the chamber extends over the periphery of the diskand is provided at its end with a curved depending wall 16, the lower edge of which lies adjacent the surface of the disk. The wall 16 is set at an angle to the periphery of the disk,

its leading edge 17 belng spaced from the wall 9 and its rear edge 18 lying close to the wall 9, so that a passage of decreasing area in-the direction of the movement of the disk, is provided between the walls 16 and 9. Air, or a mixture of air and fuel, is set in motion by frictional contact with the .disk and this air or mixture is forced-into and onaccouiit of its decreasthe passage,

' forced over the edge of the ing size, is wall 9. g

The rear wall 19 of the ignition chamber springs from the front wall 23 in a smooth curve and gradually diverges from the wall 9, forming a chamber of increasing size Wh1Cll at, 1ts rear end opens into the casing .2. Insulated from the ignition chamber and extending through an aperture in the rear wall 19 is.an electrode 21, the forward edge of which lies adjacent the edge of the Wall 9, which forms the other electrode. When the ignition circuit is closed, ignition sparks bridge the gap between the stationary and is prevented. This prevention of the foulchamber and ign tes the entire mixture,v causing a flame to be blown from the outing of the spark gap .is further insured by spacing the electrode 2L from the edge of the disk a greater distance than the edge 22 of the front wall 23, which then acts as a scraper to remove accumulated carbon from the edge of the disk.

The mixture of air and fuel, preferably kerosene, distillate or similar fuel, pours over the edge of the wall 9 into the ignition chamber, where it is thoroughly mixed, due to the. eddy c'urrentsformed, and passes through the spark gap, where it is ignited. The ignition chamber is eflicient in operation, causing almost instantaneous ignition of the fuel mixture when starting from an all-cold or heated condition. The front wall 23 is preferably arranged tangential to the periphery ,ofthe disk or cup and the edge 24: of the upper wa1l 15 is.preferably substantiallyradially disposed with relation to the cup. This forms a radially-disposed opening through which. the combustible mixture enters the ignition chamber and on account of the angularly-dis osed wall 16, this mixture is forced over t e edge of the cup and through the spark gap, where it is readily ignited. The ignited mixture blows out through the opening at the rear of the let 4.-

Features'o'f the burner disclosed but not' claimed herein are covered in United States Letters Patent No. 1,27 3,467 issued to applicant and William A. Doble, Jr., on July 23, 1918. i

I claim: v

1. In a liquid fuel burner, rotatable means for producing a fuel spray, means for supplying air to said spray to form a combus tible mixture, and -an electrode arranged adjacent and spaced from said rotatable arranged adjacent the edge of said cup, and

an ignition circuit connectedto said cup and said electrode.

5. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable electrode, means for feeding liquid'fuel into said electrode, a stationary electrode arranged adjacent the rotatable electrode, and a casing inclosing the stationary electrode and extending over the edge of the rotatable electrode.

6. In a liquid fuel burner,a rotatable electrode for producing a fuel spray, means for supplying air to said spray to produce a combustible mixture, a chamber closed on the side adjacent the incoming air and arranged to receive said spray, and a stationary electrode in said chamber.

7. Ina liquid fuel burner, a rotatable cup for producing a fuel spray, means for supplying air to said spray to produce a com- ,bustible mixture, a casing partly overlying said cup, a wall on said casing depending into said cup and forming with the wall of the cup a chamber of decreasing area, and

an electrode arranged within said casing.

8. In a liquid fuel burner,,,a rotatable electrode for producing a fuelspray, a station ary electrode arranged adjacent said movable electrode, and means for removing deposited carbon from that portion of-the rotatableelectrode adjacent which the stationary electrode is arranged.

9. In a l quid fuel burner, arotatable electrode and a stationary electrode between which an ignition spark is formed, and means for preventing the accumulation, of carbon on the rotatable electrode.

10. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable cup for producing a-fuel spray, a casing partly overlying said cup, a bottom wall on said casing terminating adjacent the periphery of said cup, a front wall on said casin terminating adjacent the periphery of said cup, a top wall on said casing extending over said cup, and a wall depending from said top wall into the cup, the forward end of said depending wall being spaced from theend of said front wall.

11. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable cup for producing a fuel spray, a casing partly overlying said cup, a wall on said casing arranged within said cup and dismeans in said chamber .for

' periphery posed to produce with the side wall of the cup, a chamber ofdecreasing area, and producing an ignition spark.

12. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable element from which the fuel is discharged in 'a spray, means for blowing air past the of said element, a wall arranged adjacent the periphery and shielding a portion of the periphery from said moving air,

, lgnition means arranged on-the lee side of the edge thereof said wall, and a dependingwall arranged Within the periphery of the element for clirecting the combustible mixture to said ignition means.

13. In a liquid fuel burner, a rapidly rotatable electrode, means for feeding liquid fuel onto said electrode wherefrom it is discharged by centrifugal force in aspray, and a stationary electrode arranged adjacent said rotatable electrode.

14. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable cup-shaped electrode from which fuel is discharged in a spray,'a casing partly overlying the electrode, a stationary electrode arranged within the casing adjacent said rotatable electrode,

and means-for directing the combustible mixture from the cup over and thro gh the gap between the electrodes.

15. In a liquid fuel burner, a rotatable about its axis,

electrode, and a stationary electrode between which an ignition spark is formed, and means for preventing carbon from bridging the gap between these electrodes.

16. In a liquid fuel burner, a cup-shaped electrode arranged to be rapidly rotated and means for feeding liquid fuel into the electrode.

17. In a liquid fuel burner, a cup-shaped electrode, means for feeding liquid fuel into the electrode, -meansfor axially rotating said electrode to discharge the liquid fuel therefrom in a spray, and a stationary electrode arranged adjacent and spaced from said cup-shaped electrode, whereby an ignition spark maybridge the electrodes. 18. In a liquid fuel burner, a cup-shaped electrode, means for continuously feeding liquid fuel into said electrode, means for axiially rotating said electrode at high speed whereby the fuel is discharged from the edge thereof in a spray, and a stationary electrode having its end lying adjacent the discharge edge of the rotatlng electrode.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this th day of February 1918.

JOHN A. DOBLE.

- In presence of- H. G. "PRos'r.

gap between the 

